Page 139 of The Delta's Rogue
Wide, round eyes framed by thick, dark lashes meet mine as I glance at her once more. They glisten and absorb the starlight with two identical lines of silver clinging to the edge of her lower eyelids. A tear escapes, sliding down the side of her face—a mirror of the shooting star flying across the sky above us.
I hold my hand out to her, and she slides hers into mine, linking our fingers together. They rest on the glass roof between us.
I lean in closer to her, a smile lighting up my eyes to drive away the tears in hers. “I promise.”
That third memory fades, and the weight of it knocks me into my chair. I lean forward and rest my elbows on the table and my face in my hands. My shoulders heave with each shaking breath I take, as other wispy memories coalesce and fight for their turn in the spotlight. They flash and pulse like lights and music in a dance club.
I shove them away, ignoring them for the time being to focus on the present, on finding answers and understanding what the fuck is going on.
“You called me Sebby.” My brow wrinkles as I rub my temples. “When we were kids, you called me Sebby.”
Sarina nods. “Yes. I did.”
“Why didn’t I remember that before? Why did I remember meeting the princess but not that the princess was you?”
“Magic,” Sarina states simply.
“It’s a spell very similar to the one that hid Maya and Levi’s mom,” King Malachi elaborates. “I released your memories when I said Sarina’s full name.”
“As I got older, I hated it when others called me Sebby. It always rubbed me wrong, always created this…gnawingsensation in the back of my mind.” I lift my head from my hands and meet King Malachi’s eyes. “Is that because of the spell?”
“It could be.” He shrugs a shoulder as he pulls the chair away from the table and takes a seat across from me. “Maybe the part of you that knew the nickname was important, the part blocked by the spell, was trying to force those memories to the front or break through the magic.”
I drop my hands, placing them flat against the table. Sarina lowers herself into the chair beside me, watching me closely. Hesitantly.
“Are you okay?” she whispers, leaning in towards me, her hand hovering above mine.
“Not really.”
Her face twists with regret as she closes the distance between our hands. “I’m sorry. This isn’t how I wanted you to find out.”
She slides her fingers between mine. I watch the movements, marveling at the strength of the sparks that ignite with the slightest touch—a sensation I will never tire of.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” I twist my upper body to face her better.
Her grip on my hand tightens. “I couldn’t.”
I laugh dryly. “Alpha command?”
“Royals can’t alpha command other royals,” King Malachi says as Sarina shakes her head. “I can’t command any of my family.”
“But you questioned her…” I blink and lean against the back of the chair, my palm hitting my forehead. “It was an act.”
“My aura was real. And none of her answers were lies.” He chuckles as he remembers his interrogation of Sarina at our pack almost four years ago. “Her answers weren’t the complete truth, but they weren’t lies either.”
“Did my dad know? Was he lying to me when he said he asked you for help finding her?”
“No,” King Malachi reassures me. “Ilied tohimto protect her, the others, and their mission.”
“Why all the duplicity? The spells, the ‘nomadic’ pack, the half-truths?”
“The royal family has used magic to protect their offspring’s identities for generations. It keeps the bloodline safe.”
“So you used a spell to protect your daughter, but then you sent her on a dangerous undercover mission?” I scoff. “Becausethatmakes sense.”
“Sarina and her brother each went on their own undercover mission, just like I did when I was younger and my father did before me, and his mother before him. It’s an old practice. An old tradition.”
A growl builds in my throat, and I glance at Sarina. “Like the old practice of challenging another to claim their mate as long as they’re unmarked?”
